USMEF Unveils Animated Beef Cutting Guide

An animated cutting guide that provides detailed directions on preparing beef cuts to match different international cuisines is now available through the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) website, as well as in five different languages through USMEF websites around the world.

Developed in collaboration with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) with support from the beef checkoff, the animated guides are designed to help meat buyers, processors and chefs better understand how different beef muscles can be separated and sliced so that they are perfect for dishes ranging from Chinese hot-pot and Mexican milanesa to Korean barbecue and Japanese sukiyaki.

The guide, which can be viewed online or downloaded, also provides information on the culinary attributes of individual beef muscles and answers frequently asked questions.

“This animated cutting guide goes hand in hand with our goal of greater carcass utilization,” says Paul Clayton, USMEF senior vice president of technical services. “It is an excellent educational tool to help those in the meat trade in key export markets better understand how to maximize their return on investment on U.S. beef and how to utilize it effectively in local cuisine.”

The animated guide originally was developed for use domestically, but USMEF worked with NCBA to adapt and extend it to address international cuisine. USMEF’s international staff members have translated the English-language version into Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. USMEF websites in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Mexico provide links to the cutting guide, while the USMEF-U.S. website offers all four translations plus English.